Resolving an adversary

Adversary damage and Fatigue

Adversaries track their listed Fatigue and Resilience, but never player Boons or a player Harm-level track. Harm printed on an adversary is damage it deals. Its Fatigue track uses the listed capacity (or the listed governing Attribute).

Resolve a damaging hit

Before rolling, state the attack’s Harm, Position, DV, Effect, and consequences. On a successful damaging hit, start with weapon or ability Harm and apply explicit Harm bonuses. Effect describes what the action accomplishes; it does not secretly multiply Harm. Any change to damage from Effect must be stated before the roll. A Partial grants the stated lesser progress, not automatically full weapon damage.

Armor, then Resilience

If Armor applies, use the Armor Conversion Table. None or ignored Armor leaves all incoming Harm unconverted and creates no armor Fatigue. Ignoring 1 point of Armor means one category lower for that hit: Heavy becomes Medium, Medium becomes Light, and Light becomes None. An ability that ignores Armor entirely uses None. For incoming Harm above 3, convert the first 3 using that column and leave the excess as Harm. Subtract remaining Harm from Resilience, clearing existing Fatigue if any Harm remains. Then add the converted Fatigue. Do not also subtract one Resilience merely because the attack hit.

NPC Fatigue overflow

When Fatigue reaches or exceeds its capacity, subtract 1 Resilience, clear Fatigue, and discard excess Fatigue. Check once per resolved hit or separate Fatigue event; do not loop over discarded excess. Fatigue never increases the adversary’s outgoing Harm. In a player-facing test, each marked NPC Fatigue improves the opposing player’s Position by one step, capped at Dominant; excess improvement adds no dice and does not lower DV. Apply the player’s own penalties as usual.

Ending the opposition

At zero Resilience the adversary is defeated in the manner established by the fiction. For a phased adversary, end that phase and start the next with its listed Resilience and cleared Fatigue; excess damage does not cross phases unless its rules say so. A puzzle adversary with no Resilience still requires its stated Resolution. Bargains, escape, surrender, and decisive fictional solutions can end opposition without attrition.

Worked hits

The Silken Blade has Resilience 8, Fatigue capacity 3, and Light Armor. A successful Harm 2 hit becomes 1 Harm and 1 Fatigue: Resilience 7, Fatigue 1. A later unconverted wound clears that old Fatigue before adding its new armor Fatigue. Three separate Harm 1 hits against her Light Armor each add 1 Fatigue; the third fills the track, clears it, and removes 1 Resilience. Against her Light Armor, a Harm 3 Backstab ignores its one category and removes 3 Resilience and clears existing Fatigue.

Player-facing opposition

Adversaries have no separate initiative turn. Describe their intent and ask how the player responds. Before the player rolls, set DV by the actual opposition (normally 3, or 4 for hard resistance), set Position, and name the consequence. A printed NPC pool is a competence reference, not a second roll or a formula converting dice into DV. For NPC opposition, references to an opposed test mean this player-facing test.

Resolve the response

Use the usual player outcome matrix: meeting DV achieves the declared intent; a Partial makes the declared lesser progress; a Miss makes none. Apply any stated consequence through that outcome and the relevant SB procedure. A successful defense avoids the threatened hit; it does not deal retaliatory weapon Harm unless that was the declared action. A Partial defense uses the lesser protection agreed before the roll. Never charge damage twice for one consequence.

When the GM spends SB

A threat, warning, or demand is free to describe. Harm from a previously announced failed response is the consequence of that response, not a free extra NPC attack. To introduce a new attack or special complication independently, spend SB: use the creature’s listed move, or 1 SB for an ordinary attack that prompts a player-facing response. Pay a named move’s printed cost and respect its trigger; Poisoned Cut’s 1 SB buys the poison after a hit, not a second attack. An expressly free opportunity attack remains free and prompts the same response procedure. A paid move does not bypass a defense or automatically inflict Harm unless it expressly says so.

Lock stakes before rolling

Position, DV, Effect, and the announced consequence are fixed when the roll is framed. Resolve that roll before spending its newly generated SB. Those SB can change the next action or subsequent fallout, not retroactively change the roll’s Position, DV, success, or damage. Earlier SB may shape a new test only before its stakes are locked.